Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

Zhou Wenqing stared at the torn piece of cloth, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

The shoulder area...

Few people would bump into someone else's shoulder, especially since he always keeps his distance from strangers. If someone were to touch his shoulder, he couldn't possibly be unaware.

But it just so happens to be this location.

Ironically, the smell of medicine is strongest here.

This isn't right.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on recalling the events.

If he wasn't mistaken, this fabric was clearly the same fur coat that the King had given him when he came out of the palace for dinner that day. The fabric was brand new, and he recognized it at a glance.

There shouldn't have been any problems when I first wore it, because when I encountered Fusu on the road and realized that someone had set a trap, I rushed over. Even though I was anxious, I was able to suppress my emotions.

So at that time, there should have been no problem with the fur coat.

The real anomaly began when we arrived at the gate of Osasu Naishiji Temple.

He wore this fur coat when he went there, and he wore it when he settled the disaster victims. He checked on so many people with frostbite one by one and helped them up one by one. This fur coat has been touched by too many places and too many people.

And then...

He turned his head to look at his shoulder, his pupils slightly contracting.

That old man.

Only the old man was helped up by him and leaned on his shoulder.

Only that person touched his shoulder!

Zhou Wenqing's hand, gripping the fabric, trembled slightly.

fortunately.

Fortunately, the hem of his robe was stained with blood that day, and the king ordered him to change it immediately in court.

Even after wearing it for only a short while, the residual effects of the medicine caused his thoughts to repeatedly spiral out of control—the image of the old man's cloudy eyes, his life force slowly fading away, until finally he was completely silent, kept appearing before his eyes, impossible to suppress, as if someone had dug out his memories and was grinding them repeatedly.

Even just the drug residue was enough to cause this; imagine if he had been wearing this robe during his confrontation with Guan Chi, that malicious fellow, in the imperial court, he would have been plagued by hallucinations...

If Physician Lü hadn't been around at that time...

Zhou Wenqing closed his eyes, not daring to think any further.

"Your Majesty."

His voice was slightly hoarse.

"Wenqing roughly knows where he encountered this unusual 'Mind-Concentrating Powder'."

Ying Zheng's gaze sharpened, and he leaned forward slightly: "Where?"

Zhou Wenqing's hand tightened for a moment, a flicker of anger flashing in his eyes:

"They are those disaster victims suffering from the cold!"

Li Si frowned: "Brother Zicheng, which one do you mean...?"

"Not just one, but everyone, every single one!" Zhou Wenqing interrupted him, his voice turning cold and filled with barely suppressed iciness. "They could all have been tampered with, including that old man I personally helped up."

This group of scoundrels is truly disgusting. In their eyes, what are the common people? Tools?!

They tampered with those common people, poisoning them and turning them into weapons, while those innocent people remained completely unaware until their deaths.

They hoped that Zhou Wenqing would go in person, and if they could take his life directly, that would be best, or even leave no trace, just that he had been too provoked.

If it doesn't work out, that's fine too.

They could also use the deaths of these innocent people to frame him for injustice, make him a target of public condemnation and scorn, ruin his reputation, and destroy him from the root.

Of course, the best outcome would be to kill two birds with one stone—

Let him die, and then let him be utterly disgraced.

Once a person is dead, there is no point in arguing; once their reputation is ruined, it is difficult to recover.

In this way, everything he did—the Bureau of Hundreds of Items, the Bureau of Crafts, the Patent Law, the Accounting Law—will rot away with him into the ground.

That's truly... a brilliant scheme!

What Zhou Wenqing could think of, everyone present naturally thought of as well.

Wei Liao slammed his fist hard on the edge of the bed, making a muffled sound. He stood up abruptly, the force of which made the thick mattress on the bed tremble.

"Your Majesty, I will investigate this matter thoroughly immediately!"

Li Si also stood up, his hands trembling with anger, and gritted his teeth, saying, "So many disaster victims have been affected by the medicine. Even if they bought the medicine in different places, they must have left traces. I will investigate immediately and will surely find something!"

"go."

Ying Zheng's voice was cold and stern, each word deliberate and forceful.

"If you two go together and encounter anyone who deliberately obstructs you, carry my verbal instructions and handle the situation as you see fit."

His gaze slowly swept across their faces.

"I... only care about the result!"

"promise!"

The two turned around simultaneously, their robes fluttering, and strode towards the outside of the hall. Their footsteps pounded on the golden bricks, heavy and deep, as if they were about to crack the hall.

------

The night is dark.

Inside Wang Wan's study, the candlelight flickered, casting two shadowy figures on the wall.

Wang Wan sat behind her desk, tapping her fingertips on the surface of the desk, the "tap, tap" sound particularly clear in the quiet night.

His face was half-hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to see his expression; only his eyes were deep and unfocused, as if he were lost in thought.

"Father."

Wang Ke stood before the desk, lowering his voice but unable to hide the hint of self-satisfaction: "The people have all been dealt with."

Wang Wan's fingers, which were tapping the table, paused slightly.

"The medicine was obtained in Guan Chi's name and given directly to those useless men under him. Our people never touched it from beginning to end."

He paused, a cold smile curving his lips.

"That drug dealer has already been secretly dealt with. My son personally oversaw the process, so it's foolproof."

Wang Ke leaned forward again, lowering his voice even further: "As for those guards, what tokens? That's utter nonsense! They have nothing. Even if Li Si turned Xianyang upside down, he wouldn't find a single clue."

"No one will ever trace this back to us, so why should Father worry?"

Wang Wan raised her eyes and looked at her son's face. The candlelight flickered in his eyes, casting a faint glow.

"madness."

Those two words fell like a bucket of ice water poured over my head.

Wang Ke's smile froze: "Father... Father?"

His Adam's apple bobbed a few times before he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Father, are you worried about Guan Chi...?"

After regaining his composure, he found some more confidence:

"Guan Chi dared not implicate us. His entire family was already in danger when his false accusations were exposed. He knew this himself. Otherwise, why would he have given up on himself like that?"

"Right now, his only hope for continuing his bloodline is that the child born to that lowly maid hiding in the alley is still in our hands. Guan Chi is a smart man; if he wants us to keep this child, he would never dare to lie."

"So, even if Zhou Wenqing has some suspicions, without evidence, what can he do to us?"

"how?"

Wang Wan snorted coldly.

"If His Majesty has already become suspicious, is evidence even necessary?!"

Wang Ke was startled.

"Moreover—" Wang Wan slammed her fingertips heavily on the table, making a dull thud, "Do you think Li Si is a fool? Or Wei Liao is a piece of trash?!"

"Given their methods, even if Guan Chi doesn't want to confess, how can we guarantee he won't reveal our names under torture?"

Wang Ke's face turned deathly pale.

He opened his mouth, his throat bobbed a few times, then suddenly raised his head, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes:

"Then the son should get rid of him immediately to prevent future trouble!"

"Snapped!"

A teacup whizzed past Wang Ke's cheek and slammed against the wall behind him, shattering into pieces. Broken porcelain shards scattered all over the floor, and tea dripped down the wall, leaving an unsightly water stain.

Wang Ke froze completely.

"Eliminate them? To prevent future troubles?"

Wang Wan stared at him with a look of utter disappointment, as if she wanted to put her son back into the womb for a second chance.

"Do you want to wipe out the Wang family, along with your blockheaded brain?!"